Worcester were plunged further into turmoil on Monday when it emerged that the director of rugby, Gary Gold, will leave his role at the end of the season to become the coach of the USA national team.
The announcement of the 50-year-old South African’s departure comes after Worcester slipped to a fifth defeat from their first five matches, against Saracens last Friday, with the Warriors rooted to the foot of the Premiership table.
Gold will see out his contract until the end of the season before filling the USA vacancy left over the summer by the former All Blacks coach John Mitchell. He will also help Worcester look for a replacement in the interim. “We are naturally disappointed Gary will be leaving but we fully understand his desire to coach at an international level,” the Worcester chairman, Bill Bolsover, said.
Gold was appointed in January on an interim basis, arriving at the same time as the former Saracens chief executive and fellow South African Edward Griffiths. Having overseen swift improvements on the pitch to guide Worcester clear of the threat of relegation, his position was made permanent in April.
The opening month of this season has been a struggle on the pitch, however, while off it the club have effectively been put up for sale by Sixways Holdings Ltd amid heavy financial losses. The managing director, Gus Mackay, said last month: “Some clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to be profitable with rising costs.”
Griffiths was reportedly keen on leading a consortium to take over Worcester but it failed to materialise and he has since left his consultancy role at the club.
Worcester have one point from five matches and are four adrift of the 11th-placed London Irish. Following the 25-3 defeat by Saracens, Gold said: “From a leadership point of view I have to divorce myself from the results and I have to look at performances. We’ve got the fight and that’s the critical thing, we’re not rolling over. I’m going to look at the positives and back this group but we also have to be realistic and fix certain things.”
The former USA captain Chris Wyles, who scored two tries for Saracens at Sixways on Friday, played a key role in Gold’s appointment. Wyles is a member of USA Rugby’s hiring and review committee. The USA qualified in July for the 2019 World Cup and are in the same pool as England.
Steve Brown, the new Rugby Football Union chief executive, and Jason Leonard have been appointed to the British & Irish Lions board. Leonard, a former RFU president who played on three Lions tours, and Brown replace John Spencer, the New Zealand tour manager, and the former RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie respectively.
The Wasps flanker Elizabeth Crake has been cited for allegedly biting an opponent’s arm during her side’s defeat by Gloucester-Hartpury in the Women’s Premier 15s last month. Crake will appear before an RFU disciplinary panel charged with acts contrary to good sportsmanship in accordance with law 10.4 after allegedly biting Ceri Large on the arm. The alleged incident took place on 23 September.
